Slingshot

ABSTRACT

The fork of a slinghsot is supported in a position forward of the handgrip thereof to increase the distance through which the elastic member of the slingshot can be drawn back, thereby increasing the force applied to a missile propelled through the fork by the elastic. The missile can be a bolt having a hook at its front end for engaging the elastic means member and having an enlarged, flattened tail fin with finger holes therein. The tail fin is aerodynamically tapered in cross-sectional shape and acts to stabilize the bolt in flight. Sighting along the shaft of the bolt significantly increases the accuracy of the slingshot and makes it possible to reliably hit game at reasonable hunting ranges. The slingshot has an arm which is attached to the top of the handgrip and extends forwardly to the fork and rearwardly to a forearm brace. The fork is cocked at such an angle to the axis of the arm that a central line to the eyes of a user is substantially perpendicular to the line between the attachment points of the elastic to the fork is directed toward the eyes of the user, thereby facilitating aiming of the slingshot and increasing the accuracy thereof.

United States Patent [19] Turner Nov. 11, 1975 1 SLINGSHOT [76]Inventor: Don La Viere Turner, Rte. 1,

[52] US. Cl. 124/20 B; 124/30 R; 273/1065 C; 273/1065 R; 273/1065 B;273/D1G. 10

[51] Int. Cl. F41B 7/00 [58] Field of Search... 124/20 A, 20 B, 20 R, 30R, 124/41, 35 R; 273/1065 B, 106.5 C, 106.5 R

Primary ExaminerRichard .1 Apley Assistant Examiner-William R. BrowneAttorney, Agent, or FirmWheeler, Morsell, House & Fuller [57] ABSTRACTThe fork of a slinghsot is supported in a position forward of thehandgrip thereof to increase the distance through which the elasticmember of the slingshot can be drawn back, thereby increasing the forceapplied to a missile propelled through the fork by the elastic. Themissile can be a bolt having a hook at its front end for engaging theelastic means member and having an enlarged, flattened tail fin withfinger holes therein. The tail fin is aerodynamically tapered incross-sectional shape and acts to stabilize the bolt in flight. Sightingalong the shaft of the bolt significantly increases the accuracy of theslingshot and makes it possible to reliably hit game at reasonablehunting ranges. The slingshot has an arm which is attached to the top ofthe handgrip and extends forwardly to the fork and rearwardly to aforearm brace. The fork is cocked at such an angle to the axis of thearm that a central line to the eyes of a user is substantiallyperpendicular to the line between the attachment points of the elasticto the fork is directed toward the eyes of the user, therebyfacilitating aiming of the slingshot and increasing the accuracythereof.

6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures us. Patent Ndv.11,1975 SheetlofZ 3,918,427

U.S. Patent Nov. 11,1975 Sheet 2 012 3,918,427

rlllllllllmm-nullln SLINGSHOT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the past,slingshots have been used primarily as toys rather than as huntingweapons. This is due to the fact that prior art slingshots are notpowerful enough to kill small game and also to the fact that prior artslingshots are not accurate enough to reliable hit small game atreasonable hunting ranges.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a novel slingshot and anovel slingshot missile which are capable of killing small game andlarge game as well. The slingshot of this invention has a fork which issupported in a position forward of the handgrip thereof to increase thedistance through which the elastic of the slingshot can be drawn back,thereby increasing the force applied to the missile when it is released.The missile of this invention is a bolt having a hook at its front endfor engaging the elastic means and having an enlarged flattened tail finwith finger holes therein. The tail fin is aerodynamically tapered incross-sectional shape and acts to stabilize the bolt in flight. Abroadhead can be attached to the front end of the bolt, which is shotfrom the slingshot with sufficient velocity to kill small or large gameat reasonable hunting ranges, e.g. up to 50 yards. The bolt provides ameans of aiming which significantly increases the accuracy of theslingshot and makes it possible to reliably hit game at reasonablehunting ranges. The slingshot has an arm which is attached to the top ofthe handgrip and extends. forwardly to the fork and rearwardly to aforearm brace. Further increase in accuracy is provided by cocking thefork at such an angle to the axis of the arm that a central lineperpendicular to the line between the attachment points of the elasticto the fork is directed toward the eyes of the user, therebyfacilitating aiming of the slingshot and increasing the accuracythereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment ofthe invention showing a bolt engaged with the elastic means thereofprior to the stretching of the elastic means.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear end view ofthe embodiment shown in'FIGS. 1 and 2 withthe elastic means removed.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1. g g gFIG. 5 is a longitudinalsectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT I Although the disclosure hereofis detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplifythe invention which may be embodied in other specific structure. Whilethe best known embodiment has been described, the details may be changedwithout departing from the invention, which is defined by the claims.

Referring to FIGS. 13, one embodiment of the invention has a castaluminum handgrip 10 which is shaped to be securely gripped by a handand is preferably cored as indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 1 toreduce its weight. A cast alumumim arm 12 is attached to the top ofhandgrip 10 by means of a pin 14 and screw 16 and extends both forwardlyand rearwardly from handgrip 10. The forward end of arm 12 is dividedand turned up to form a fork 18 which has two branches 20. The rear endof arm. 12 is widened and flattened to form a forearm brace 22 which iscurved as shown in FIG. 3 to comfortably bear against the top of theforearm. Fork 18 and forearm 22 are integrally cast with arm 12.

Two lengths of elastic tubing 24 are attached to the upper ends of forkbranches 20 by means of threaded studs 26 (FIG. 6) which are secured tothreaded holes 28 in the upper portion of fork branches 20. Studs 26have tapered annular shoulders 30 (FIG. 6) which are slightly larger indiameter than the inside diameter of elastic tubing 24, which is forcedover shoulders 30 as shown in FIG. 6. Pulling the elastic tubing 24 awayfrom stud 26 causes a reduction in the inside diameter of elastic tubing24 whichcauses the tubing 24 to more securely grip the tapered shoulders30.

At the other end of elastic tubing 24, plugs 32 (FIG. 6) having taperedannular shoulders 34, similar to shoulders 30, are forced within the endof elastic'tubing 24. Plugs 32 have a central hole 36 through which alength of piano wire 38 passes. Wire 38 is shaped in the form of a V(FIG. 2) and is securely heldwithin plugs 32 by enlarged ends 40 (FIG.6) which bear against the forward end of plugs 32. Enlarged ends 40 canbe formed by mushrooming. the ends of wire 38 after it has been passedthrough the holes 36 in plugs 32.

The V'-shaped wire 38.is provided to adapt the slingshot for use withbolts 42 such as shown in FIG. 1. Bolt 42 is made of cast aluminum andhas an elongated shaft 43 with a hook 44 projecting transversely fromits front end. Hook 44 is dimensioned to engage the apex of V- shapedwire 38. The rearend of shaft.43 is'enlarged and flattened to form avertical tail fin 46 having finger holes 48 therein. Asshown in FIG. 5,tail fin 46 is aerodynamically tapered and serves to stabilize bolt 42in flight. Tail fin 46 can be oriented horizontally if desired byrotating the position of hook 44 by Also, both horizontal and verticaltail fins could be'used if desired.

The bolt 42 shown in FIG. 1 has a blunt headfor stunning game. Forkilling game, a broadhead 50 such as shown in FIG. 9 can be employed.Broadhead 50 is attached to a removable head 52 which. is attached byscrew threads to a threaded stud 54 on the front end of shaft 43. Theblunt stunning head and a target head can missiles held in a pouch suchas were used in the past. The increase in accuracy achieved through theuse of bolt 42 helps to transform the slingshot from a toy into ahunting weapon. The bolt 42 also provides a mounting and vehicle for thebroadhead point 50, which is capable of killing or mortally woundingboth small game and large game. The broadhead point 50 cannot belaunched from a pouch such as used in the prior art slingshots. Thefinger holes 48 in bolt 42 also provide a means for drawing the missileback against the heavy forces that are required for killing large game.Through the use of finger holes 48, forces comensurate with thosedeveloped by hunting bows can be comfortably supported and smoothlyreleased.

Another important factor which makes the slingshot of this invention ahunting weapon rather than a toy is the fact that fork 18 is supportedin a position that is spaced forward of handgrip by a substantialdistance A (FIGS. 1 and 7). This increases the distance through whichelastic tubing 24 can be drawn back, and thus increases the force thatis applied to bolt 42 in the fully stretched condition of elastic 24.The forward displacement A of fork 18 makes it possible to achieveforces that are commensurate with those generated in hunting bows, e.g.,pounds or more. This is adequate for killing or mortally wounding deeror bear at reasonable hunting ranges.

For large game, or for small game at long ranges, the increased accuracyand killing power of bolt 42 and broadhead are preferred. However, forstunning small game at short ranges, spherical missiles can be employedthrough the use of a leather pouch 56 (FIG. 8) which is attached toelastic tubing 24 by slotted plugs 58, the slot in each of the plugs 58being passed through a corresponding opening in the ends of pouch 56,and each of the plugs 58 having tapered annular shoulders 60 forsecurely engaging the inside of elastic tubing 24 as describedpreviously in connection with shoulders 30 (FIG. 6) of stud 26. Whenspherical missiles are used in connection with the slingshot of thisinvention, an increase in the force applied to the missiles when theyare launched is effected through the forward displacement A of fork 18.In addition, an increase in accuracy is also realized through a cockingof the angle of fork 18 with respect to the axis of arm 12 as describedbelow.

As shown in FIG. 2, a line 62 through the attachment points of elastictubing 24 and fork branches 20 is cocked at an acute angle B to the axis64 of arm 12, the angle B being selected to orient a central line 66which is perpendicular to line 62 toward the eyes of the user as shownin FIG. 7 to facilitate aiming of the slingshot and to improve theaccuracy thereof. The angle C shown in FIG. 2 between line 62 and line66 is a right angle. The line 66 passes through the center of line 62between the attachment points of elastic tubing 24 and fork branches 20and is the line along which the bolt 42 should be launched for bestaccuracy. When line 66 is directed toward the aiming eye of the user inhis or her natural stance for shooting the slingshot, as shown in FIG.7, the conditions for maximum accuracy are obtained.

Because of the cocking of line 62 with respect to the axis 64 of arm 12,it is necessary to manufacture different slingshots for right and lefthanded shooters, the version shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 7 being forright handed shooters, who hold the handgrip 10 in their left hand andthe bolt 42 in their right hand. For left handed shooters, the fork 18is cocked in the opposite direction i.e., toward the left in FIG. 7rather than toward the right. However, the angle B of cocking is thesame in either case. An angle B of approximately 7585is preferred.

As shown in FIG. 1, the axis 68 of handgrip 10 is preferably cockedforwardly at an acute angle D to the axis 64 of arm 12 to match thenatural angle at which a human hand holds a grasped cylindrical objectwith the arm extended. As shown in FIG. 3, the axis 68 of handgrip 10 isalso preferably cocked clockwise at an acute angle E to the centraltangent plane 70 to forearm brace 22 to match the natural angle at whichthe human hand holds a grasped cylindrical object with the arm extended.The line 62 between the centers of studs 26, i.e., the attachment pointsof elastic 24 and fork branches 20, is preferably parallel to thecentral tangent plane 70 to forearm brace 22 so that line 62 will behorizontal when handgrip 10 is held in a natural position with the armextended.

Although the handgrip l0, arm 12, fork l8, forearm brace 22 and bolt 42are made of cast aluminum in the disclosed embodiment, other materialscan be used including stainless steel, wood, plastic, etc. The elastictubing 24 can be rubber or neoprene or the like. Studs 26, plugs 32,wire 38, slotted plugs 58, and broadhead 50 are made of stainless steelor other suitable material.

I claim:

1. In a slingshot including; a handgrip, a fork having branches andlocated forwardly of the handgrip with respect to a user, an armconnecting the fork and handgrip, a forearm brace attached to saidhandgrip and extending rearwardly therefrom, an elastic means attachedto said arms for propelling a missile therethrough, the terminal end ofone of the branches of said fork being positioned more rearwardly towarda user than the other branch, whereby an imaginary line connecting theattachment points of said elastic means is substantially perpendicularto an imaginary line extending to the eyes of a user, said imaginaryline connecting the attachment points forming an acute angle with theaxis of the arm, thereby facilitating aiming of the slingshot andincreasing the accuracy thereof, said forearm brace being curved andthere being a central plane tangent to said forearm brace, the axis ofsaid handgrip being cocked forwardly to one side with respect to theaxis of said arm and laterally with respect to the central plane.

2. The slingshot of claim 1 wherein said elastic means comprises twolengths of elastic tubing each attached at one end to a correspondingbranch of said fork, and further comprising a rigid V-shaped memberattached to the other end of said lengths of elastic tubing, and anelongated bolt adapted to be removably engaged in the apex of saidV-shaped member to stretch said elastic tubing and propel said boltthrough said fork.

3. The slingshot of claim 2 wherein said bolt has a hook projectingtransversely from the forward portion thereof for removably engaging theapex of said V- shaped member.

4. The slingshot of claim 2 wherein said bolt has an enlarged, flattenedrear end portion which constitutes a tail fin, there being finger holesin said tail fin.

5. The slingshot of claim 4 wherein said tail fin is areodynamicallytapered in cross-sectional shape and serves to stabilize said bolt inflight.

6. The slingshot of claim 2 and further comprising a broadhead attachedto the front end of said bolt.

1. In a slingshot including; a handgrip, a fork having branches andlocated forwardly of the handgrip with respect to a user, an armconnecting the fork and handgrip, a forearm brace attached to saidhandgrip and extending rearwardly therefrom, an elastic means attachedto said arms for propelling a missile therethrough, the terminal end ofone of the branches of said fork being positioned more rearwardly towarda user than the other branch, whereby an imaginary line connecting theattachment points of said elastic means is substantially perpendicularto an imaginary line extending to the eyes of a user, said imaginaryline connecting the attachment points forming an acute angle with theaxis of the arm, thereby facilitating aiming of the slingshot andincreasing the accuracy thereof, said forearm brace being curved andthere being a central plane tangent to said forearm brace, the axis ofsaid handgrip being cocked forwardly to one side with respect to theaxis of said arm and laterally with respect to the central plane.
 2. Theslingshot of claim 1 wherein said elastic means comprises two lengths ofelastic tubing each attached at one end to a corresponding branch ofsaid fork, and further comprising a rigid V-shaped member attached tothe other end of said lengths of elastic tubing, and an elongated boltadapted to be removably engaged in the apex of said V-shaped member tostretch said elastic tubing and propel said bolt through said fork. 3.The slingshot of claim 2 wherein said bolt has a hook projectingtransversely from the forward portion thereof for removably engaging theapex of said V-shaped member.
 4. The slingshot of claim 2 wherein saidbolt has an enlarged, flattened rear end portion which constitutes atail fin, there being finger holes in said tail fin.
 5. The slingshot ofclaim 4 wherein said tail fin is areodynamically tapered incross-sectional shape and serves to stabilize said bolt in flight. 6.The slingshot of claim 2 and further comprising a broadhead attached tothe front end of said bolt.